BupBap Festival: From Farinelli in the Cathedral to a Rave

A countertenor singing, inside a Catholic cathedral, the very repertoire once sung by a castrato almost three centuries ago, in a space that stretches every note a few seconds longer than any concert hall could: that image sums up what Belgrade’s newest festival is trying to be. On October 7, at the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Vojteh Pelka, backed by the St. George Strings under conductor Srboljub Dinic, performs a program built around Farinelli’s repertoire. Eight days later, at Dorcol Plac, the same festival closes with a rave.

Everything else fits between those two points, and that span is the festival’s core pitch. BupBap, short for the Belgrade Art Platform, runs its first edition from September 29 to October 15, with venues scattered across the city, from Dorcol Plac and the Belgrade Philharmonic hall to Zappa Baza.

Founder Olja Jacobs describes the platform’s goal as connecting different musical genres and artistic disciplines, with a focus on young performers and on building new repertoire through commissioned works. That second point matters more than it sounds. Commissioning new work is the most expensive and least rewarding job in the business: audiences do not buy tickets for it, and the payoff shows up over a decade, not a season.

What does the arc from baroque to rave actually mean?

A curated arc running from a baroque aria, through Schoenberg and Stravinsky, to a dance floor is not a new idea in Europe, but it remains a rare move here, since it requires the same team to work with three audiences that barely overlap. The risk is obvious: a program like this can easily slide into a mere list of genres, a catalog offering everyone a little and no one anything whole.

What guards this lineup against that trap is that each evening is tied to a specific venue with its own sound. The cathedral was not chosen as a backdrop but as an acoustic instrument. Zappa Baza was not picked as a jazz venue out of habit, but because the music there is played with the audience within arm’s reach. Whether the arc actually holds together will only be clear in October, once it is obvious whether the same crowd stayed for the whole run or turned over every night.

The program, stop by stop

• September 29, Dorcol Plac: opening with the concert piece “Between Worlds,” combining music, theater, dance and video art. The concept is by violinist Tijana Milosevic, direction by Nikola Zavisic, the program features works by Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky, and includes the world premiere of “Melodies of Acceptance” by Jug Markovic, commissioned by the festival
• October 7, Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Baroque Night,” Vojteh Pelka and the St. George Strings under Srboljub Dinic
• October 11, Belgrade Philharmonic: “Synergy,” with double bassist Strahinja Mitrovic, the festival’s youth ambassador, and cellist Dragan Djordjevic Suzuki, conducted by Vuk Wolkov-Popovic. Alongside Adès, the program includes Elgar, Rossini and Tchaikovsky, and features the Serbian premiere of “O Albion” from the “Arcadiana” cycle by British composer Thomas Adès
• Zappa Baza: “Leap,” marking the birth centenary of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, performed by the jazz octet of the Faculty of Music, with arrangements by Vladimir Nikolov
• October 15, Dorcol Plac: a conversation with psychiatrist Dr. Aleksandra Damjanovic on how music affects the mind, followed by the closing rave

The concert program is rounded out by masterclasses, artist talks and sound therapy sessions, including “Sound Threads,” an original concept by Irina Decermic, and a systemic constellations workshop led by Dr. Jelena Djordjevic. The festival has also opened a competition for its official poster: entries go on a group exhibition during October, and the winning artist gets a solo show in 2027.

Why the timing of the announcement matters

The calendar is the story here, not the repertoire. In early August, typically the quietest stretch on Belgrade’s festival calendar, almost nothing is known yet about this year’s Beer Fest beyond two confirmed concerts at Usce, and events that have run for fifteen years are still announcing names a week before opening night. BupBap is going public with names, dates, venues and titles nearly two months early.

That choice says a lot about who the festival is aiming for. Audiences buying tickets for a countertenor and for Adès plan ahead, and often travel, so a late announcement would cost them nothing but also give them nothing. A first edition is measured less by attendance than by whether there will be a second one, and the only real signal on that front is whether commissioned pieces like “Melodies of Acceptance” end up in someone’s repertoire after the premiere, or in a drawer.